


Bubble Tea and Telephones

by Mossmoon_722



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Between Seasons/Series, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, Phone Calls & Telephones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28786392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossmoon_722/pseuds/Mossmoon_722
Summary: The first ever call was meant to be between Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang. But instead, Mai has some other plans, and a tea shop in the earth kingdom gets the phone call instead.A short, fluffy drabble set between ATLA and LOK about the first phone call in the avatar universe.
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 57





	Bubble Tea and Telephones

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time ever posting on AO3 and the last fanfiction I ever posted was 10(ish) years ago, so hello! It’s nice to be here. 
> 
> I took a lot of liberties with timelines and characters. This is set about 15-20(ish) years out from the ATLA finale.

The first call ever was meant to be between Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang, more of a publicity stunt than anything else, in an attempt to convince the general public that this new form of communication wasn’t going to be a threat to their lives.

Zuko questioned whether or not that would actually work - like most of Sokka’s new technology, there was a general waiting period before anyone in the public would trust anything to put it to good use - but he liked the idea. Besides, it had been way too long since he chatted with Aang. It had been over a month since he last saw him, and he was looking forward to talking with him again.

Sunset had been well over four hours ago, and so he walked towards his bedroom, ready for sleep. It had been a long, hard week, and tomorrow would just start over the cycle. As always, there was too much to do and too little time to do it. He still hadn’t even written back to Izumi, who was with Uncle Iroh in the earth kingdom until next week. He had gotten her letter a week ago, and was starting to feel like a terrible father for not writing back yet.

I guess that’s for tomorrow then. He mused, wondering if maybe he should ask Mai to remind him. He didn’t mean to forget - there was just too much to do.

As he made it to his room, though, he was stopped by Mai. Her hair was still up, and she was still dressed for the day. She leaned against the doorway to their room, as though waiting for him.

She walked towards him and grabbed him by his arm. Pulling him in an about-face, they started back down the hall towards his office.

“Where are we going?” he asked, his bodyguards letting them through.

“I have a surprise for you,” she said.

“Ah, ok. What’s the surprise?” Zuko asked. He let her pull him towards his office. He would’ve been worried - Mai’s surprises were always kind, but he had learned from a young age that he wasn’t the biggest fan of surprises - but a small, knowing smile graced her face.

This was something she was excited about. He might as well go along with it.

When they reached his office, Mai took Zuko to his desk and gestured for him to sit down. He did.

“What’s the surprise?” Zuko asked again, leaning towards her.

“One second and you’ll see,” she chided playfully. She grabbed the phone that had been installed earlier this week and started to fiddle with the rotary dial. Sokka had explained to Zuko how to use it earlier, and he had obviously given Mai the same lessons, because she didn’t hesitate as she messed with the phone.

Zuko waited and watched as his wife fiddled with the phone, and eventually he heard a low buzzing static come from the part of the phone that was meant to go up to his ear.

Mai passed the phone to him, and he gingerly held the device in his hands. The body part of the phone was long, the bottom fanning out to a base and the top part jutting out into a hollow cone that he could speak into. The component that was supposed to go to his ear was also a hollow cone that looked somewhat like a small teacup, attached to the body of the device with a cord.

Sokka had given him a rudimentary explanation of how it worked. Somehow, through electricity, his voice would go from the body of the phone, through wires, to the earpiece of someone else’s phone. And then vice versa until the conversation ended and someone hung up.

Honestly, Zuko thought it was magic, and Mai had been so excited about it that she had asked for one to be installed here.

Which was why he was listening to static from the earpiece he held to his ear, the cold metal pressing up against the skin of his good ear.

Quite frankly, he felt somewhat foolish.

“What am I waiting for?” Zuko asked.

Mai only smiled. “Just wait.”

He frowned, and Mai shrugged, saying nothing more. While they waited, she pulled a chair from the far end of his office - one of the chairs that belonged to his Pai Sho table that sat in the corner for whenever Uncle visited - and sat next to him, grabbing his free hand with her own.

“What are we waiting for?” Zuko asked again, his voice taking on a conspiratory voice. His guards were waiting outside, but the weird situation and Mai’s more than usual affectionate attitude made him feel lighthearted.

Whatever Mai had planned, he was starting to get excited about it too.

Mai leaned towards him, frowning as she heard the static continue.

“They should’ve answered by now,” Mai mused.

“Who?” Zuko asked.

His question was answered as he heard a click from the earpiece.

“Hello?” Zuko asked.

At first, he heard nothing from the other side, and then a childish, female voice that he knew very well came through the static.

“No uncle, you hold that piece up to your ear and that piece up to your mouth.”

Mai let out a chuckle.

Zuko looked at Mai. “Wait, Izumi is with -”

“Zuko!” Uncle Iroh said, his voice clearer this time.

“Uncle!” Zuko said back.

He turned to look at Mai, and she gave his hand a strong squeeze.

“They had an extra, and I figured you might want one for him,” she said.

He almost kissed her, but uncle was still speaking through the phone and he was worried he might miss it. Uncle’s voice was still pretty grainy, even with Izumi’s help. Maybe he’d have to talk to Sokka about call quality soon.

“Zuko! How have you been?” Uncle asked.

_Tired. Working hard._

Zuko squeezed Mai’s hand back. She rested her head on his shoulder.

_Well loved. Healthy. Feeling as though I belong._

“I’m doing well. How are you? Oh - and thanks for taking Izumi for the month. We appreciate the break.”

“It’s no problem, of course - she’s been trying out my different types of boba teas! It’s nice to have someone around who appreciates my genius!”

Izumi said something in the back, and Zuko felt warmth in his chest, happy to know that, even though she was in a whole other country, he could hear her voice. This was the first time that she had been away for this long, and while she was still with Uncle Iroh, he still felt some level of concern for her.

“We’ll still see you two in a week, right?” Zuko asked.

“Of course,” Iroh said, sureness in his voice even through the grainy sound on the phone. “And now we can talk even when I’m away.”

“Good,” Zuko said. Because, even with his family around and the country to take care of, he still planned on taking out time for the man who was like a father to him. “Beyond drinking that disgusting boba tea, what else have you two been doing?”

As Zuko chatted with his Uncle, Mai leaning against his shoulder to listen in, and hearing Izumi on the other side of the line, he wondered in silent awe at this technology. There was currently a line at Air Temple Island, and then Sokka was talking about getting phone lines to other parts of the world too. In a couple of years, he could call up pretty much anyone he wanted whenever he needed to talk to them.

Suddenly, the world seemed a lot smaller, but also a lot closer.


End file.
